Baillieu in $250m Frankston bypass pledge

A 22-KILOMETRE toll-free bypass would be built from Seaford to
Mount Martha under a Liberal Party plan to ease traffic congestion
in Melbourne's outer south-east.

But the ambitious pledge to build the Frankston bypass has
already come under fire, with Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu
accused of making a financially reckless promise to win votes in
some of the Liberals' most marginal seats.

Mr Baillieu said yesterday a Liberal government would spend $250
million to build the new road, amid growing fears that the
adjoining EastLink tollway, scheduled to open in 2008, would
compound congestion in the area.

"This (road) will mean time savings for the residents of
Mornington Peninsula and Frankston, and it will mean enhancing the
quality of the environment for all of this region," Mr
Baillieu said.

The RACV and Frankston Council welcomed the commitment, but the
State Government said the project was financially unviable.

Transport Minister Peter Batchelor said the 23-kilometre Geelong
bypass, only one kilometre longer than the proposed Frankston
bypass, was costing $380 million.

"And that is over an area that has none of the complex land and
environmental features that the Frankston bypass has," Mr Batchelor
said. "This just shows that the Liberals are not ready to run the
state.

"Their numbers don't add up  not on the project, and not
on their overall commitments."

Transport is shaping up as a key issue in the November 25 poll,
particularly for volatile seats in Melbourne's eastern and
south-eastern suburbs.

The Liberals said the bypass would "skirt around" an
environmentally sensitive area known as The Pines.

The road would also cut through two of the Liberals' most
marginal seats: Nepean, which needs a swing of only 0.2 per cent to
fall to Labor, and Mornington, which is held by only 1.9 per
cent.

Labor, meanwhile, has not yet committed to a bypass, but will
spend $6.5 million on building three ramps at the southern end of
EastLink to accommodate such a road in the future if needed.

Mr Baillieu said yesterday that many Victorians did not trust
Labor's record on roads, given its breach of its 2002 election
promise not to impose tolls on the EastLink freeway.

"I think people in the eastern suburbs remember one thing about
EastLink, and that is it's based on a lie," he said.

Frankston Mayor Vicki McClelland welcomed the Liberals'
announcement.

She said the council was conducting a study of the project and
looked forward to Labor matching the Liberals' commitment with
funding for an environmental effects statement as soon as the study
was finished.

RACV government relations manager David Cumming also called on
the Government to match the Liberals with its own plans for a
toll-free bypass.

"Steve Bracks needs to declare where he stands on the issue," Mr
Cumming said.

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